(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a defect inspection tool and a defect detection method, and more specifically to a foreign substance and defect inspection tool for inspecting a minute foreign substance and a minute defect present on the surface of a semiconductor substrate or the like with high sensitivity and high speed, and a defect detection method.
(2) Description of the Related Arts
In a manufacturing line for a semiconductor substrate, a thin-film substrate, or the like, to maintain and improve the yield ratio of the product, a defect and a foreign substance present on the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the thin-film substrate, or the like are inspected. For example, for a sample such as a semiconductor substrate before circuit pattern formation, it is required to detect a minute defect and foreign substance of 0.05 μm or less in size on the surface. With conventional inspection tools, for example, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H9-304289) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,342, to detect such a minute defect and such a minute foreign substance, a laser beam condensed into several tens of micrometers in size is irradiated to a sample surface, and scattering light from the defect and the foreign substance is condensed and detected.